Active noise control system

Abstract

An active noise control system is capable of canceling out noise in the passenger compartment of a vehicle based on low-frequency road noise. The active noise control system has a feed-forward control unit for being supplied with reference signals highly correlated to noise from a noise source and generating a noise cancellation signal which is out of phase to noise in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and a canceling sound generating unit disposed in the passenger compartment for generating a noise canceling sound in response to the noise cancellation signal from said feed-forward control unit. The active noise control system also has microphones for generating reference signals which are positioned respectively near the base of the front seat, near the center of a roof, and within a trunk compartment, i.e., respectively at vibrational antinodes of a primary or secondary acoustic normal mode of the passenger compartment in the longitudinal direction thereof. Output signals from the microphones are supplied as the reference signals.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an active noise control system for canceling out unwanted noise in a vehicle's passenger compartment with secondary noise produced out of phase with the unwanted noise (having 180°-shifted phase with respect to the phase of the unwanted noise in the passenger compartment), and more particularly to an active noise control system for canceling out unwanted noise in a closed space such as a vehicle's passenger compartment based on low-frequency road noise (also referred to as “drumming noise”) in frequencies ranging from 20 to 150 Hz which is produced due to the acoustic resonant characteristics of the closed space. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Active noise control systems for attenuating drumming noise in a vehicle's passenger compartment have been based on feed-forward active control as shown in FIG. 26 of the accompanying drawings. [0005] In FIG. 26, the convention...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an active noise control system that can cancel out low-frequency road noise in a vehicle's passenger compartment. The system can easily obtain a reference signal, reliably obtain a noise cancellation confirming signal, and detect a noise signal. These technical effects improve the quality of the vehicle's interior and enhance the overall driving experience.

Problems solved by technology

However, it is very difficult to produce such a reference signal.

The difficulty arises out of the fact that the noise in the passenger compartment based on low-frequency road noise is affected more greatly by the acoustic resonant characteristics of the sound field in the vehicle body than by vibrational characteristics of the suspensions and various vehicle body regions.

As a result, the transfer function between the speaker and the microphone is varied, and the noise in the passenger compartment cannot sufficiently be attenuated.

The above problem also occurs when the angle of the backrest of the front seat is changed.

The approach to adjust the weight of a certain region of the vehicle body for attenuating drumming noise is disadvantageous in that it has to rely upon a process of trial and error and hence is tedious and time-consuming, and the attempt usually brings about an increase in the weight of the vehicle body region.

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